SHOTTS Bon Accord players are preparing for the biggest game of their lives on Sunday when they tackle holders Auchinleck Talbot in the Scottish Junior Cup Final.

The clash at Livingston’s Braidwood Motor Company Stadium will be the first time Shotts have graced the Scottish Cup Final since winning it in 1958 – a wait of more than 50 years which the present team is keen to end.

Shotts fans will to pack the main stand at Livingston, for which tickets priced £10 and £4 concession are being snapped up.

The presence of the cameras of BBC Alba, who are screening the match live, will heighten the sense of occasion.

Shotts chief executive, William Quilter, who has been a keen follower of the team for more than 40 years, said: “I’m hearing talk around the town that we could have 13 or 14 coach-loads of fans going to the final.

“I also understand there are also two coaches going from the Motherwell area, where assistant manager Stewart Ralston has been involved in coaching Colville Park, who recently won the Scottish Amateur Cup.”

The cup occasion will be something special for every player involved, but possibly more so for captain John Boyack, who is set to round off his testimonial year by leading the team out at Livingston.

It would cap a dream season for the former Hearts player if he were to add the Scottish Cup to the Sectional League Cup he lifted in September.

Despite this being Shotts’ third cup final this season they will go into Sunday’s showdown as underdogs. Talbot have, after all, won Junior football’s premier trophy a record 10 times.

On a previous cup trip up the M8 this season, the Ayrshire men caused a sensation in the Seniors’ premier cup trophy, when they went within a penalty claim of earning a draw with Hearts at Tynecastle in the Scottish Cup.

The capital side went on to win the trophy, of course, trouncing city rivals Hibs last weekend 5-1.

But Shotts, in this, their SEVENTH final in two seasons, will point out that they earned bragging rights last when they last faced Talbot, winning on penalties on their own patch in the Evening Times Champions Trophy last season.

With so much football played this season, however, manager Tony McInally has had to work hard to ensure standards don’t slip.

And now the hard graft of playing and management staff over an exhausting campaign has been rewarded with the showpiece showdown.

McInally said: “Ever since our semi-final win I’ve been in their face, urging them not to lose fitness, form or focus.

“We brought the squad together for a meal in the Bon Accord Social Club on Saturday and we watched the Champions’ League Final – an evening of team bonding in a social environment.

“Last night (Wednesday) I arranged for a ‘pampering’ session for them at Westerwood Hotel in Cumbernauld, where they were able to have a full body massage, sauna and swim to ease their aching limbs after a hectic league schedule.

“Today (Thursday) we will visit Livingston’s stadium just to give the players a feel for the place, look around the ground, assess the dimensions and test the pitch – hopefully that will make them feel more at home on Sunday.

“We will wrap up the build-up with a light limbering-up session at Hannah Park on Saturday.”